Vacuum cleaner brush with self-powered UVC lamp

ABSTRACT

A Nozzle ( 1 ) for a vacuum cleaner, with an integrated UVC germicide lamp ( 3 ) that works without being connected to an external electric power supply because the current generator ( 8 ) necessary for its powering is part of the nozzle itself.

Object of the present patent is a brush for vacuum cleaner withintegrated UV-C (germicide) lamp, that can work without being connectedto an external electric power supply, because the current generator,necessary for its powering, is part of the product itself.

The present patent is applied to the field of vacuum cleaners andrelevant accessories. Due to its construction peculiarities, which willbe described afterwards, it can be also applied to steam cleaners andcleaning appliance fields.

Several kinds of brushes are known among vacuum cleaners accessories,used for different purposes: floor and parquet brushes; carpet and sofasbrushes; this patent refers to this kind of accessories.

Constructive methods of brushes present in the market, divided intofloor and/or parquet brushes, intended to vacuum on hard and regularsurfaces, and, brushes for soft and irregular surfaces, such as carpets,sofas and fitted carpets.

This last kind of brushes has additionally a roller, with some bristlesshrunk-on. This roller, when rotating, moves the dirt which is nestedinto the fabric, and facilitates its suction through the slit which isunder the brush.

The roller can operate through an electric ratio-motor or an airoperating motor.

Brushes that are present in the market can suck the dirt from a surfacebut cannot “disinfect” it. For this reason, in the last years, we haveseen new appliances in the market that have this “disinfection”function; this kind of appliances utilize detergents or water steam athigh temperature.

Recently new products, named “sweeper”, have been put in the market;they combine UVC lamps with rotating carpet brushes (see patentapplications JP2005124861 A2—EP1714601 A2—WO2006/015390 A2) Thegermicide lamps (UVC) give out a light with a wave length of 253.70 nmnamed “germicide” for its capability to neutralize bacteria. As a matterof fact the exposure of these bacteria colonies to the ultra violet UVCradiation neutralizes their effect. These new products overcome thelimit of normal vacuum cleaners brushes and thus they “disinfect” aswell. These “sweepers” anyway show some limits, first of all thepowering of lamps by using rechargeable batteries. This kind of poweringpresents some inconvenience for the final user who has to remember tocharge the battery, electricity consumption due to everlasting chargesand not last the chemical limit of rechargeable batteries, in fact,continual charges and discharges damage these batteries mat need then tobe substituted with all ecological problems linked to their disposal andtheir high cost. Electrical powering of the lamp can be done alsothrough the electrical power supply of the vacuum cleaner, and this cansolve the problems created by batteries. This requires a morecomplicated construction, in fact the power supply must pass through theflexible suction hoses, and to do this a particular and expensiveexecution of these hoses is needed: they have to be co-extruded andcables have to pass well separated from the suction channel, inparticular, for wet & dry appliances or steam generators, the executionof these brushes needs a high grade of protection from humidity thusrequiring considerable and complicated project for its construction.

The aim of this patent is to solve the described problems, i.e. tocreate a kind of brushes equipped with this “disinfection” systemthrough UVC lamps, combined to a self-powering system with ho need ofbatteries or external electrical power supply.

The product is then universal and suitable for any vacuum cleaner on themarket because it does not need any adaptation or interface of theappliance.

This result is entirely and fully performed by the invention which isthe object of the present patent, and realized as follows.

The air sucked by the motor fan inside the vacuum cleaner, connected tothe brush through the pipe union (4), enters the brush through thesuction inlet (5). Through the internal structure of the brush the airis conveyed to the fan (2) that, due to this forced air flow rotates athigh speed, and then goes out of the pipe union towards the appliance.Approximate but not mandatory rotation speed of this fan (2) is about2000-2500 rounds per minute. The fan (2) is connected, through a timingbelt (7), to a synchronous motor or a dynamo (8), that, rotating,creates electric current at a certain voltage. This current is thantransformed by an electronic board (6) and thus used to switch on theUVC lamp (3) and keep it lighted. A switch (9) is connected in seriesbetween the motor/dynamo (8) and the electronic board (6), that is usedto interrupt the load generated by the motor (8) and allow, inparticular applications if needed, the connection of the fan (2),through another belt (10), also to a rotating brush (1) for the carpetcleaner function.

1. Brush for vacuum cleaner with a germicide lamp UVC (3), which is characterized by the fact of being self-powered by a dynamo operated by the sucked air flow.
 2. Brush for vacuum cleaner as per claim 1, characterized by the fact that the current generator can be either a dynamo or a synchronous motor.
 3. Brush for vacuum cleaner as per claim 1, characterized by the fact that the current generator is used to power a UVC lamp. 